Avoiding condensation in tent

[jazzmessenger8]

Sorry if this thread has been posted before- my searches on here never seems to provide anything relevant. What precautions do you guys take to avoid condensation gathering in your tents overnight, regarding location, orientation etc. below tree line in summer? And what do you do to deal with the condensation if it does build up?
Thanks for any answers

[Slo-go'en]

Don't tent in grassy areas, open areas, the tops of blads - never camp above tree line. It might look great when you set up, but you never know when a wicked storm will blow in over night or a cloud decend. It's also illegal in many areas, like NH.

Also avoid camping near swampy areas, ponds or lakes.

Tent under trees and on dirt when ever possible. Learn to set up your tent so it has proper ventilation.

Once you do have condensation, you can wipe some of it off with a camp towel, shake it off or take the tent out to dry in the sun during a break - assuming the sun does come out!

[Spokes]

This article (in pdf format and you'll be prompted to open the file in a new window) may be helpful to you. It focuses on single wall tents but the tips carry over.

Cheers!

[moof53]

Just a little info. If you camp under trees be sure to look up. The branches above are called "Widow Makers" and have been known to fall on sleeping hikers.

I believe it is in the "Gallery" area of the site where there is a picture of a guy next to his tent where a huge tree limb had fallen and crushed one side of his tent. He had just woke and sat up when the limb hit right where his head had been. He was a real lucky guy.

Just last week a Park Ranger in Yosemite was killed when a very large limb broke during some winds and crushed the tent cabin he was sleeping in.

It can happen so always look up.

[HiKen2011]

Just a little info. If you camp under trees be sure to look up. The branches above are called "Widow Makers" and have been known to fall on sleeping hikers.

I believe it is in the "Gallery" area of the site where there is a picture of a guy next to his tent where a huge tree limb had fallen and crushed one side of his tent. He had just woke and sat up when the limb hit right where his head had been. He was a real lucky guy.

Just last week a Park Ranger in Yosemite was killed when a very large limb broke during some winds and crushed the tent cabin he was sleeping in.

It can happen so always look up.

Great info, also single wall tent, condensation WILL be an issue regardless of where you pitch, most of the time.

[Sly]

All good info, which adhered to should lower condensation to a manageable level where it can be wiped down with a bandana

[Jim Adams]

use a double wall tent...problem solved.

geek

[Wise Old Owl]

Come on Jim you can do better than that... take a look a Spokes Article and you will see what a professional find he has. (Same Thread)

[Jim Adams]

I was serious!...I tried a single wall tarptent...will never go back...too much work!

geek

[Panzer1]

I lay in my tent looking up at the condensation all the time.

Panzer

[Tipi Walter]

Don't tent in grassy areas, open areas, the tops of blads - never camp above tree line. It might look great when you set up, but you never know when a wicked storm will blow in over night or a cloud decend. It's also illegal in many areas, like NH.

Also avoid camping near swampy areas, ponds or lakes.

Tent under trees and on dirt when ever possible. Learn to set up your tent so it has proper ventilation.

Once you do have condensation, you can wipe some of it off with a camp towel, shake it off or take the tent out to dry in the sun during a break - assuming the sun does come out!

This advice is certainly sketchy and unrealistic for real-world backpacking. If someone backpacks 180-200 days a year for 10 or 20 years he'll end up with thousands of nights out and many of them will be in grassy areas, in open areas and on the tops of balds. On my last 18 day January trip I spent many of them atop open balds and got caught in a rainfall of 153 hours---a personal record. Condensation is just a plain fact of life when living out of a tent and it's due mostly to air temps and humidity. Plus, packing up a soaked tent for a week doesn't help. Sure, I swab out the inner tent routinely and this helps to pull some water out.

There should be little or no concern to site placement, and a good four season tent will work in most situations. When conditions turn south go into your hunker mode with a "last stand" mentality---and ride it out. You may have to spend 7 days at the same place in a 0F blizzard but so what?

[Franco]

How to avoid condensation

Use a double wall tent ...problem solved.

Brilliant.
Yes, to avoid bad news happening , stop watching TV...


At best you can minimise condensation, not eliminate it. Condensation happens regardless if you are in a tent or not.
Inside a double wall tent (with a water resistant fabric inner) you may not be aware of condensation but it will still be there.
What then happens is that if you don't air or dry the underside of the fly in the morning you will not only carry that condensation with you but transfer that to the inner.
Now if you have a PU coated fly , it will eventualy become sticky and it will be the end of it.
If you have a mesh inner and don't have a fabric section at the top as some have, it can drip on you.
When that happens you may wish to have a single wall tent so that you can wipe that condensation off rather than dripping on you.
BTW, a wet inner will of course increase the humidity level inside and that will make you feel colder..
So not all that simple....
Franco

[Wise Old Owl]

Oh? just leave the flap of the door open, It can be that simple. My thought is that the vents are too small on some... On one bivy they vented all the way down one side. looked like it would work.

[jazzmessenger8]

Thank you all for the helpful comments. Spokes, thank you for the great pdf.

[Tenderheart]

Oh? just leave the flap of the door open, It can be that simple. My thought is that the vents are too small on some... On one bivy they vented all the way down one side. looked like it would work.

Have you actually done any hiking?????

[Franco]

I must remember to open my car doors so that it does not get wet with condensation when parked overnight.
Franco

[jakedatc]

Have you actually done any hiking?????

what is wrong with leaving the outer flap open? If it's not raining then ventilation is your best bet. you still have the inner mesh to keep bugs out.

Wise Owl... the TT Contrail I have (and probably others) have full mesh door and 6-8" of mesh along the entire length then a mesh "foot panel"

I do think it's funny that people think double wall tents eliminate condensation when in reality it just has a mesh layer between you and the drops. at some point you will have to shake your tent off and dry things out.

[jakedatc]

I must remember to open my car doors so that it does not get wet with condensation when parked overnight.
Franco

heey, I sleep in my Element plenty and keep the sunroof and side windows open to do just that

[Franco]

Mine is a Nissan. Must be the brand...
Nothing wrong with the inside, is the outside that gets wet, I was just hoping that opening the doors would solve the problem.
Franco

[Wise Old Owl]

Have you actually done any hiking?????

What - how would you feel if I call you ignorant too... everyone here hikes.... Now I know you didn't intend to do that.... never mind..eat a mouse instead.

what is wrong with leaving the outer flap open? If it's not raining then ventilation is your best bet. you still have the inner mesh to keep bugs out.

Wise Owl... the TT Contrail I have (and probably others) have full mesh door and 6-8" of mesh along the entire length then a mesh "foot panel"

I do think it's funny that people think double wall tents eliminate condensation when in reality it just has a mesh layer between you and the drops. at some point you will have to shake your tent off and dry things out.

Yes and you nailed it.... in ANCIENT TIMES it was two layers of fabric, not mesh --- Folks get upset about that. today its a mesh and tarp; except mountaineering.... Who would have thought that climbing mountains with an Andre Jamlet overseas would skew your thinking?